Widow's Crawl
by TCOOKIES777
Summary: A tale of Agent Romanoff, who she was before & who she is now, told from the perspectives of her team mates. Drabbles. Set after Avenges movie and before CA: TWS. Involves her past relationship with characters from the Red Room including the Winter Soldier and her relationship with him.


Chapter 1: Her Lullaby

Steve Rogers was a soldier—and, most importantly, he was a trustworthy leader and friend anyone could count on. But there wasn't a day that passed when he felt he could stop looking over his back for any immediate threats. He lived a dangerous life defending his nation for foreign evils, particularly Hydra. And that's the only type of life he knew how to live. His parents had died when he was barely adult; the only friend he had was James Buchanan Barnes—Bucky. And, sure, they grew up together as if they were practically blood siblings. But even so, deep in Steve's heart, he sometimes missed his family. From the gentle caress of his mother's hand as she tucked him in bed to the playful wrestling with his father when he wasn't drunk. But after Operation: Rebirth, the soldiers he befriended and the Quartet he led would help to expand his family. Until… until he became a 'capsicle' as Tony would put it….

And then the Avengers happened. Earth's mightiest heroes. Yet, it just wasn't the same. It wasn't the kind of team he was expecting. They were a roudy and questionable bunch; in the beginning, none of them seemed to get along very well without busting out their guns, hammer, archery equipment, and even fists. As of now, well, let's just say they were at a polite and respectable enough level with each other. He was actually starting to warm up to everyone which he found almost unusual at first since he considered himself the most normal in the mind. But Clint was revealed to be a pretty laid back guy once you got to know him. And although Thor was a quirky man, he was good to you if you were good to him likewise. In fact, there were many instances in which he could relate to Thor's innocence of Earth and the way people ran things in the modern era. Meanwhile, Dr. Banner was an extremely generous man who seemed to care about peoples' wellbeing even if he had a difficult time controlling the raging beast from within. And then Tony was…. Tony. He wasn't exactly a gentleman. Steve only knew that he was a 'genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist' who at least was an honest—and _very_ straightforward—man. The only upside to that was that it made him more frivolous man more predictable and thus easier to handle—somewhat—for Steve's part. On the other hand, the Black Widow was an entirely different matter.

Sure, Steve had enough insight to know she was a master assassin who had former affiliations with the KGB before defecting to America's S.H.I.E.L.D. But that was all he knew. He didn't know her favorite pastimes much less her true name. For someone who had so many identities to live up to and about as much lies to convince people, she made him feel uneasy out of everyone else. She wasn't exactly an open book compared to the others; he rarely knew what she was thinking and the few times he did, he wondered if it was because she was only allowing him to. Of course, her being a non-super powered human didn't make her any less dangerous.

And once again, he found himself working alongside her including the rest of the Avengers team. They were on the Quinjet heading towards Russia where it was rumored that Hydra had salvaged some Chitauri weapons from the fight that almost leveled New York and now a group of scientists were trying experimenting on children to make them bio-weaponized pawns for Hydra to manipulate.

"Nat…." Agent Barton muttered her name quietly enough to pull the red head's attention from the Quinjet's steering wheel. From the corner of his eye, Steve saw the two master assassins in the cockpit give each other meaningful looks. After what felt like a minute had passed, Romanoff nodded surreptitiously before turning back to stare ahead into the sky they were flying through.

"Are we there yet?" Tony chimed in impatiently. "Please tell me we are. Please, please, _please_. We've been sitting and waiting for hours. If we're attacked—and I'm not saying we will, but if we do—I'd rather not be flying around in my suit and getting my ass kicked because I was too sore and bone-creaky to defend myself properly."

"Sit back and shut your trap, Tin Man." Clint rolled his eyes as he steered the aircraft higher by a few altitudes. "I swear, that's like the 47th time you've asked that. We're all tired from the long flight but Russia isn't exactly right next door you know."

Bruce raised a hand to pull down Tony back to his seat before Tony restlessly stood up again. "Tony, I'm sure we're almost there now. You don't need to fidget…"

"Fidget? Who said I was fidgeting?" Tony asked with a blank and much too innocent facial expression. "I'm just trying to work out the kinks in my neck and stretch out my legs. Besides, it's not nice to sit down for such long periods of time—all that fat you have will fall down to your butt. And, well, let's just say you should probably go to the gym more often Dr. Banner... Studies show that daily exercising reduces stress."

Bruce scoffed but not without peeking down at his stomach. "Yeah, I try not to get my heart rate too high much less my blood pressure."

"You can use my gym!" Tony proposed with a small grin. "Like I said before, my tower is a stress free environment. I just—god, are we there _now_?"

Clint turned his head back from the co-pilot's seat to glare at Tony. "One more word…."

"If there was a race between this hunk of an aircraft and my new suit… obviously, my suit would beat you all to Russia by miles." Tony said with a heavy air of confidence. "In fact, how about we test it out now?"

"No can do, Stark." Steve spoke up. He had no doubt that Iron man would fly to Russia faster than S.H.I.E.L.D.'s quinjet but it was too dangerous to do this assignment solo. And he wasn't sure Iron man could get the job done properly. No, he'd rather take things slowly lest they evoke the fury of the Director. "We can't risk flying into enemy territory blind. This is Mother Russia we're dealing with; Agent Romanoff's area—her homeland. We're going to need all of her assistance and guidance on this." Steve said. "She knows this land best…."

Natasha didn't say anything or even blink an eye. But Steve did notice the ex-KGB agent tighten her grip on the control stick just the slightest.

"I still think we should race the suit and the ship." Tony mumbled just loudly for everyone to hear.

"You people of Earth never cease to amaze me with your world and methods of traveling." Thor chuckled as if he were watching the most hilarious sitcom. "In Asgard, we would travel to faraway lands through ships much faster and more efficient than this, I must say. Sometimes we'd even use the Bifrost…."

"Well, that sounds like fun." Tony said with just the slightest lace of envy in his voice. "Seriously, Agents, I'm telling you, S.H.I.E.L.D. really needs to step up their technology. It's practically last century. Stark tech is the future. I've already given Fury a few tips for sustainable energy—you know, _clean_ energy. Not the junk that I can't imagine how you agents bear with. Like I always say, respect Mother Earth."

"Is that you being concerned for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s well being or are you just endorsing your own industry?" Natasha asked with a small smile gracing her full lips.

Steve's eyes crinkled at Natasha's light teasing. It was nice that she could relax enough just like this every now and then. At least she wasn't acting during those rare moments, he had thought.

Tony shrugged as he fiddled with the bracelet on his arm which acted as a controller for the iron man suit so he could call upon it from a distance. "Hm, why not _both_, I say. After all—ugh!"

The Quinjet rocked violently and almost knocked the standing Mr. Stark off his feet had Thor not steadied him in time. "Hey, Legolas buddy, you mind taking it easy there? Don't want our doctor to go all Hulk on you now."

Bruce rolled his eyes.

"We've got bogies on our tail!" Clint shouted as he struggled with the stick to maneuver the aircraft as best he could. Natasha began flicking numerous switches in response.

"I do not understand what these 'bogies' are?" Thor questioned in confusion.

"We're under fire!" Natasha grunted as the Quinjet shuddered.

Bruce pulled on his belt and hung on for dear life, taking in deep breaths as if he were in labor. "By who?!"

"Don't know—we can't see them!" Clint pushed the stick and the vehicle did a sharp nose dip before righting itself. "They've somehow slipped under our radar…. Cap?"

Steve turned to Tony and nodded at him. "Tony, I'm going to need you to suit up and get us some eyes back there."

Tony let out a breath and tapped a button to begin the process of suiting. "And I thought you'd never ask, tough guy."

"Do _not_ engage." The captain added with a pointed look.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Iron Man asked rhetorically as the mask finally slid over his face.

The doors slid open with a _whoosh._

"Let's roll!"


End file.
